This is Real
by mostlytvstuff
Summary: He meant it when he told her his heart was racing. At first, it really was because he thought he had lost her. But it thumped even faster when he realized he had found her. And that she had come there for him. For him. She was all for him. That realization was more terrifying and exhilarating than anything he had experienced.


_It's hard to be inspired when Mindy made everything so perfect. But let's try... _

_Starts immediately after the end of Danny & Mindy…_

He had to pull away. Because they were in public, and people were staring. Not that he cared –if she would have him, if she would believe that he was for real, he would have her anywhere she wanted. But he thought she might be more comfortable if there were less risk of getting cigarette butts in her hair.

He meant it when he told her his heart was racing. At first, it really was because he thought he had lost her. But it thumped even faster when he realized he had found her. And that she had come there for him. For him. She was all for him. That realization was more terrifying and exhilarating than anything he had experienced.

Even now, after kissing her on top of this romantic fortress and claiming her ass as his own, his heart still pumped furiously.

"Let's get out of here," he said finally.

"Danny, I left my coat and my shoes in the stairwell. I can't leave without them! I can't run around New York without shoes. What if we see Michael Fassbender?"

"Okay. Calm down. He's probably not even in the city right now… Wait, why did you take the stairs? He helped her stand up, and she started shaking leaves out of her hair.

"The elevator is broken."

"What are you talking about? I just took the elevator up here 5 minutes ago."

"Exqueeze me? You_ just _took the elevator? You haven't been up here for hours waiting for me?"

He shrugged but looked sheepish. "I didn't think you were coming so I went to grab a slice. And then I saw Morgan and everyone on the street, and they told me you were on your way. So I ran all the way here."

"Danny! What am I supposed to tell our kids about our romantic reunion? That you loved me so much you were almost willing to give up dinner?"

"Hey! I got hit by a car on my way here! You can tell them I loved you so much, and I was so busy running to you that I didn't bother to watch out for cars. And I rolled off the hood of a cab! You know, like Jason Bourne."

"This is nothing like Jason Bourne, Danny. You're injured, and I'm shoeless. We're like the hobo version of a Meg Ryan movie, where the homeless people are all hot and not drug addicts and they're just homeless to make a statement about society's materialism."

She tilted her head, "This was supposed to be our perfect romantic moment."

"It is perfect," he replied, looking at her with that vulnerable expression that she could never resist. Except earlier in the bathroom when she refused him. But seeing him like that now, she wondered how she could ever have thought this wasn't real.

They stared at each other for a moment – a rare quiet moment between them. It was no longer fraught with tension like so many that had come before, but filled with something hopeful. And somehow, standing there, not touching, felt even more intense than when they were lying on the ground groping each other.

He broke the silence. "I'll take the stairs and pick up your stuff, and you take the elevator. I'll meet you at the bottom, okay?"

"No," she responded certainly, wrapping her arms around his waist and laying her head on shoulder. "I want to go with you."

He smiled. Somehow just that tiny gesture – her wanting to walk with him down 104 flights of steps – made him so happy. He was struck with the desire to devour her right there – to pull her into him and take all of her. Because she had come there for him. For him. Because she had decided he was worth coming for.

But he settled for lacing their hands together and leading her to the stairs.

As soon as they were in the stairwell, and the steel door shut forcefully behind them, he pushed her up against the wall, kissing her again. She wrapped her arms around his neck. He pushed his body fully into hers, and she felt like he was trying to absorb her. There was so much of him – his lips and his tongue opening her; his chest against hers, tight and strong; his hands on her sides, around her back, on her shoulders, pulling and pushing her against him.

When she started to make those little noises, he forced himself back. "C'mon, we gotta get out of here, Min…" But she kept kissing at him, and he was having trouble forming words. She kissed his neck, "we have…" his jaw, "to get…" his temple, "out of here." She leaned her head against his shoulder as he led her down the steps.

When they found her shoes, he knelt down to slide them on her feet. "It's like Cinderella!" she realized aloud. "You have searched the kingdom for your true love, and all you had were the glass slippers she left behind… And the earrings you found at your apartment…"

He looked up at her, startled, "How did you know about that?"

"Peter. You know, they make desks with locks now, Danny, so you don't have to write 'KEEP OUT' on your stuff like you're in middle school."

He was barely listening, as he gently rubbed his fingers across her ankle and up her calf, staring at her legs intently. "I don't know why I kept them," he said, almost to himself. "I…" He looked up at her. "I really missed you."

She smiled. "Me too."

He let his hand slide a little further up her leg, over her knee to her inside thigh. He never took his eyes away from her face. Her skin was smoother than he remembered. But when he looked up at her, all he could think about was how he almost let her go. He felt such an urgent need to make up for that – to erase it from their story.

"Danny…" she warned. "We have to go…"

His eyelids were heavy as he stared up at her. He stood up and pushed her into the wall again, rubbing his hand along her side and up her front, grazing her breast as he reached for her jaw. He tilted her face up towards his and just looked at her, silently, one hand on her cheek. They breathed heavily against each other, nearly kissing but not quite. Their mingling breath – heavy with lust and exertion – was somehow more intense than all the kissing and groping combined. The shoe had fit. She was his.

He grabbed her hand, and they started down again. They found her jacket near the end, and Danny helped her into it, kissing her neck as he untucked her hair from the collar. He slipped his arms under hers and wrapped her in a hug from behind. It was the least Danny-like thing she could imagine. She wanted to laugh at him for being so awkward. But she was so taken by this open, affectionate side of Danny, she could do nothing but lay her head back on his shoulder.

* * *

By the time they reached Danny's subway stop, her stomach was growling. "I have to eat _something_, Danny. I walked up 104 flights of steps. I deserve a metal. Or a cake. Or a cake medal – made of edible gold." She looked off into the distance imagining such a magical dessert. He smiled at her – a full-faced, affectionate smile that told everyone within view how much he loved her.

So they ran into the first spot they found – the only bakery in Manhattan that didn't sell bear claws. Instead, Danny bought her some kind of pastry covered in powdered sugar, which she promptly scattered all over everything. When he smiled his crooked smile, with traces of powder stuck in his whiskers, she decided this would be the perfect story for their nine girls. She would tell them all about their father, the hero, who rescued the princess from the highest tower and took her out for cake.

"What?" he said as she stared at him dreamily.

"Nothing." She smiled and kissed his cheek leaving a powdered-sugar kiss mark.

By the time they got to his apartment, the pastry was gone, but they were both covered in powdery sweetness. He unlocked the door as she tried to lick sugar off his face. Her tongue felt sort of like a tickle against him. And even though he wasn't ticklish, the sensation was overwhelming.

When he couldn't take anymore of her teasing, he grabbed her and pushed her up against his door, kissing her and letting his hands roam inside her jacket. Once again, he pressed his full body into her. It reminded her of the way he kissed her on the plane, so desperate and intense. That time, his intensity made her feel light-headed. But this time, joy seemed to bubble up in her entire being. They had landed.

Eventually, they got the door open and made it inside Danny's apartment. Once the door shut, everything became a frantic struggle to remove jackets and clothes and shoes and get to Danny's bedroom without serious injury. It didn't take long before they were both naked, and he was lying on top of her. And that's when everything slowed to a near halt.

Danny slowed his kissing and eased his body away from hers. He shifted to lie next to her, ghosting his fingers across her torso and focusing on her skin like he was memorizing it. The room was only slightly illuminated by the light from the street, but he could see all of her. And it was beautiful.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

He remained silent, studying her. When he finally spoke, his voice was deep and husky but quiet. He looked up at her with tears in his eyes, "This is real."

She smiled a little. "I know," she whispered.

He kissed her belly. "This is real," he repeated.

He kissed her chest. "This is real."

He kissed her neck. "This is real."

He moved on top of her again, settling between her legs. She had never felt more open or more exposed. And when he looked down at her and said it again, she had never felt more loved.

When they were finally together, they both silently decided it was absolutely worth waiting for. Worth climbing 100 stories for. Worth getting hit by cars for. She had come for him. And he had come for her. And it was worth everything.

It was also hot. Like, really hot. They had stops and starts in their sex life – hair stuck in toilets, arms stuck in trash cans, churches set on fire – but when they finally, finally came together, it was intense and amazing; and delicate and special. As soon as he saw the look on Mindy's face when he was within her, Danny knew she was it. He would have asked her to marry him and said the wedding vows right then if he could have.

Because she had come for him. For him.

* * *

She woke up later, alert and suddenly fueled by the adrenaline of everything that had happened. Also, awakened by the pain in her butt muscles – her glutes did not seem to understand the romantic nature of climbing 104 flights of steps to meet the love of your live. She lied on her side and stared at Danny's sleeping form for several minutes before finally popping out of bed to retrieve water and pain relievers. And maybe to take a look around Danny's place – just to make sure nothing had changed since their last sleepover.

She poured herself a glass of water and returned to his bathroom to search for medicine. While she perused the various bottles of medication, she didn't notice him sneaking up behind her.

She jumped. "Dammit Danny! Do not sneak up on a naked girl! You could get killed."

He smiled. "With water and over-the-counter pain medication? Were you planning to drown me or force me to take the whole bottle of Advil?"

"Get out. I'm naked. And I need to be alone."

"Hmm… you need to be alone while you're naked? That sounds like something I would really want to be present for…" He was smiling at his own cleverness, but he soon noticed that she had grabbed a bath towel and was wrapping it around herself. "Are you serious right now? I've seen you naked."

"Not like this," she said, looking down at the floor.

"Mindy." She didn't look up. "Mindy?" Still nothing.

"I haven't lost 15 pounds," she said eventually, still looking at the floor.

Suddenly, it felt like the Empire State Building had fallen on his chest. "Mindy… I apologized for that. I know I still have a lot to apologize for, but can we decide I have apologized enough for one night?"

Mindy looked up at him. "What are you talking about? You haven't apologized for anything."

He thought about it and realized she was right. The words "I'm sorry" had not actually left his mouth. So he started to approach her. He put one hand on her cheek. "I'm sorry I lied about Andy." He put the other hand on her other cheek. "I'm sorry I left you waiting." He kissed her forehead. "I'm sorry I broke up with you." He leaned down to kiss her neck. "God, I am so, so sorry about that." He kissed down her neck to her shoulder. "I'm sorry I didn't wait for you." He kissed her chest. "I'm sorry I made you feel like you were anything less than…" He kissed the valley between her breasts. "the most beautiful…" He started to pull the towel loose from her body. "sexy…" He kissed her skin as it became exposed. "incredibly hot…" The towel dropped unceremoniously to the floor. "unbelievably fuckable woman I have ever met."

He kissed her lips, as his hands roamed her body, sliding across her torso, whispering under her breast, slipping along her sides and eventually making their way to her butt. "And this ass…"

She wrapped her arms around his neck and allowed herself to fall into him again. He seemed to wrap his whole being around her as he dragged her back to his bed for more. And more. And more. Because she had come for him. For him.

* * *

It had been days since "The Most Romantic Night of Her Life," which is what she had decided to title that chapter of her memoir, and things were still going smoothly. Mindy had barely left Danny's apartment, really barely left his bed, except to go to work. And to the gym. Well, Danny went to the gym. She went to that bakery where they had stopped on their way home from the Empire State Building. She loved those powder-sugar things. They were delicious, and they reminded her of Danny. They were quickly surpassing bear claws as her favorite pastry.

"Danny. I love you, but I cannot handle another hour of Ken Burns. Please. I am begging you." He just stared at her with that crooked grin.

They were on his couch, her feet on his lap, which had become their default position. He found it enchanting. Once he had let go of all the uptight fears that characterized their first try at dating, everything about her enchanted him.

"What?" she asked. It reminded her of the time they were on his couch when she was living next door. She was struck with the desire to live next door again – to be as close to him as she could be. All the time.

He shrugged. "Nothing… that's the first time you've said that."

"Danny, I tell you I hate Ken Burns all the time. And this Roosevelt thing has been going on ALL WEEK."

"Not that." She looked up, trying to remember what else she had said. "I love you. You said, 'I love you.'"

"That's not the first time I've said that, Danny. I say it all the time! How could you not remember?"

"You do NOT say it all the time. I would remember."

"Yes, I do. The first time I said it, we were in bed after we got back from the Empire State Building."

"Mindy, I was exhausted. I fell asleep right after…" He motioned between them, "you know."

"Sex, Danny. It's called sex. And how could you fall asleep during our romantic post-coital bliss?"

"I stayed awake for your entire recap of the plot of 'How to Lose Matthew McConaughey in a week and a Half.' Which was almost the amount of time it took you to tell me about it. For a guy, that's basically like running a marathon."

"Let's not talk about your stamina."

"That was one time, Mindy!"

"I said it the next day too, after you made dinner. Remember? You were washing that stupid pan after you yelled at me for trying to put it in the dishwasher?"

"You can't put copper pans in the dishwasher."

"Maybe you were too busy coddling your kitchen supplies to notice."

He looked confused. "You mean, you told me you love me when I was cleaning dishes with the loud faucet on?"

"And I just told you the other day when you were on the phone with your brother. Remember? He was telling you about Ramon, and I was trying to pull the phone away from you and put it on speaker so that I could hear everything?"

He squinted, trying to jog his memory. "Wait a minute… those are all times when you knew I wasn't paying attention…" Something started to dawn on him. "Why have you only said it when you knew I wouldn't hear it?" His face turned from curiosity to fear. What had happened? He thought things were going well.

"Okay, I can't handle your psychoanalysis right now." She started to get up from the couch, but he grabbed her and pulled her down on his lap.

"I'm in, Mindy. I told you I wanted to go all in. I'm all in." He tucked her hair behind her ear so that he could see her full face, as he searched for her concerns.

"I know," she said quietly. "It's just… it still feels… I don't know..." His face quickly turned to devastation. "I mean...before I broke up with Cliff, I told him I loved you. And then you broke up with me. Now things are going so well. And… what if saying it again jinxes everything?"

"You can't jinx it. I'm not leaving. This is not jinx-able. And even if there is a jinx, you can just buy me a Coke, and it goes away, right?" He smiled a little.

She rolled her eyes and groaned. "Ugh. So lame. How old _are_ you?" He stopped her ranting with a peck on the lips.

"This is very real. I regretted breaking up with you ever since it happened. When I was standing outside your apartment that night, I could barely force myself to walk away from you. And after we broke up… I just acted like an idiot. I'm an idiot, okay? But I love you. I mean, I really love you. This is it for me. You are it for me.

"When I first told you I loved you, and you didn't believe me… that was the worst moment of my life, Mindy. Not when my dad left. Not when Christina left. It was when you didn't believe me. And I don't think I knew how much I loved you until that moment.

"And then I thought I had missed you that night at the Empire State Building. I couldn't find you. I thought I lost you." His voice cracked a little. "I thought I had failed you again.

"But when I heard your heavy breathing," he smiled and looked away like he was imagining the moment over again. "I was afraid to turn around, because I thought I was imagining you. But it was really you…" He seemed to get lost in his thoughts. "And you came there for me. For me." His vision was blurred again by his tears. "For me. No one has ever gone anywhere for me. And there you were, meeting me, giving me another chance. And I didn't deserve it." He looked directly at her. "I know I don't deserve it. But I was so, so… happy." A rogue tear escaped his eye and trickled down his cheek. "I am so happy."

"I love you." She said suddenly, as if it were a secret she couldn't hold any longer. "I love you."

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